Sir Fred Goodwin is dead – ‘Call me’ Tony Blair troughs on
SIR Fred Goodwin is now plain Fred Goodwin. The Government has decided to change the name of the man portrayed as the epitome of City greed.
Goodwin, the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief, has been told by a clutch / smudge / cloud of senior civil servants that the “scale and severity” of his actions and their affect on the economy are an “exceptional case”.
Fred may wonder why he has been singled out and the likes of, say, Paul Edward Winston White, a man jailed for defrauding the taxpayer by dishonestly claiming £14,000 from the House of Lords continues to be known as Lord Hanningfield? Prince Charles may one day score the title Defender of the Faith – you know, the Christian Church that says adultery is wrong.
Anyhow. Sir Fred is dead. The Honours Forfeiture Committee has made its decision. A spokesman for the the Cabinet Office says:
“In reaching this decision, it was recognised that widespread concern about Fred Goodwin’s decisions meant that the retention of a Knighthood for ‘services to banking’ could not be sustained.”
In short: he was never jailed. He has been convicted of no crime. He has not been struck off a professional body. But to appease the natives, Sir Fred is now plain Fred.
“This decision, not normally publicised in advance, was taken on the advice of the Forfeiture Committee, which advised that Fred Goodwin had brought the honours system in to disrepute.”
The honours system must not be brought into disrepute (see Duchess of York). Perish the thought. The cash-for-honours investigation into Tony Blair’s government flogging off honours for party donations reported that no-one had done anythign illegal. Well, no that the CPS knew of.
Anyhow. All good news. And it might just be the start. Nick Robinson asks on the BBC:
Plenty may be wondering whether the committee will now start working through every banker with a knighthood who has since faced criticism for decisions they took in the past.
And not just bankers. Although – and how’s this for the luck of the devil? – Tony Blair, the man who oversaw the casino economy, has not accepted any peerage, so negating any need to disclose where he gets all his millions from.
Sir Fred is dead. Plain old Tony troughs on…
Posted: 31st, January 2012 | In: Money Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
